Upright piano



May 25, 1937. H. R. HELLER 2,081,704

UPRIGHT P IANO Filed Aug. 16, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 1N ENTOR Z5ATTORNEYS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 25, 1937. H. R. HELLER UPRIGH? PIANOFiled Aug. 1e. 193s INV a .b M M M f@ 4 .w 0 M M Il 4% w xiv Z M i.. H w,m

INVENTOR ATTORNEYb May 25, 1937. H. R. HELLER 2,081,704

UPRIGHT PIANO Filed Aug. 16. 1955 I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR CID ' lnupright pianos.

Patented May 25, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

My present invention relates to improvements The invention modifies andconverts an upright piano so that it has the appearance of a squarepiano or spinet. The construction not only lightens the appearance ofthe instrument and emphasizes its horizontal lines at the expense of itsvertical lines, but also provides for the proper support of the piano onfour legs. The construction enables the legs to be well spaced from theends of the lower or depending portion of the piano case. Further theappearance is lightened and the tone is improved by narrowing the lowerpiano case, the sound-board and the piano-back below the keybed; also bythere making the piano case shallower than in the standard uprightpiano. An improved disappearing fall-board construction is provided inconnection with the foregoing cooperative therewith.

With these and other inherent objects and advantages in View, myinvention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination ofparts hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings which show for the purpose of illustrativedisclosure a preferred embodiment of the invention, it being understoodhowever that various changes may be made in practice therein within thescope of the claims without departing from my inventive idea.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of the instrument with the caseclosed;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same with the upper and lower frontpanels removed together with the fall-board;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the instrument;

Figs. 4 and 5 are fore and aft sectional views of the instrument, Fig. 5being a partial duplicate of Fig. 4 with the difference that it showsthe fall-board in its up position wherein it is concealed by the upperfront panel; and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic perspective view of certain parts shown inposition for assembly; and

Fig. 'l is a horizontal sectional view partly in plan on the line 'I-Iin Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, the piano there shown comprises a piano-backIii', a soundboard I2, string-plate I4, piano-action I8, keybed I8, andkey-board 20. The piano-back I0 and sound-board I2 are modied andnarrowed below the key-bed I8 to substantially the extent permitted bythe string-plate I4 which, as will be seen from Figs. 2 and 3, is muchnarrower at the bottom than at the top. Thus the pianoshoulders I Ilc.

back I0 instead of being rectangular as in the standard upright piano isformed as shown in Figs. 3 and 6 with its lower part much narrower thanits upper part, the ends Illa of its lower part being abruptly connectedwith the ends IIIb of the upper part by means of the horizontalPreferably the ends Illa of the lower part are concaved inwardly asshown.

The width and shape of the lower part of the sound-board I2 "conform tothe piano-back which is another radical difference from the standardupright-piano wherein the sound-board is rectangular like thepiano-backand extends for substantially the full-length of the planoboth above and below the key-bed.

The piano-case comprehensively designated 22 is also narrowed below thekey-bed and has or may have inwardly' concaved ends 22a to conform withthe piano-back.

The string-plate, sound-board and piano-back are combined and securedtogether in accordance with standard upright piano construction.

The shoulders I0c of the piano-back rest upon end-beams 24 which in turnare supported by piano legs 26 so that preferably the bottom 22h of thepiano-case is clear of the floor as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Thecheeks 22o of the piano case are glued or otherwise suitably secured tothe upper end portions of the pianoback in the position shown in Fig. 3.These cheeks also rest upon the end-beams 24 as shown in Fig. 3. Theends of the key-bed I8 also rest upon said end-beams. Fig. 6 shows howthe keybed has each of its ends formed to be receivable into a recess22d in the adjacent cheek-piece 22C. Screws 28 (Fig. 6) secure the cheekpieces to the key-bed. Other screws 30 secure the endbeams to thepiano-back shoulders, and to the cheek pieces, Figs. 3 and 6.

The piano-legs 26 are preferably directly secured to the end-beams 24,so that in case a leg has to be replaced, it is easy to unscrew theendbeam carrying the broken leg and replace it with another with legsintact. This construction locates the piano legs, two on a side, wellspaced laterally from the lower or depending portion of the piano caseand gives a spinet appearance to the upright piano.

The key-board 20 and the piano-action I are supported in properoperating position relatively to the strings and other parts as instandard upright-piano construction.

The cheeks 22e of the piano case at the ends of the key-board are or maybe higher than in the standard upright and preferably extend up to aboutthe level oi the hammer-rail lill, but may be higher or lower lthanthat, depending upon the effect and appearance desired. These cheelrsille as shown in Fig'. l preferably entend at the sarne height clear tothe bacli: of the case. 'lihe 'upper ends 22e of the piano case have afore and ai't dimension at the 'top which is or may be substantially thesame as the corresponding,r dirnen sion in the standard upright case.ll'he lorwar-d edges 22] of 'these ends preferably incline downm Wardlyand forwardly to the oheelrs lille as shown in Figs. l, 6, etc. 34 is orniay be standard up-n right piano-lid hinged at its bach. The usual heyaslip 36 is secured between the cheelrs lille the front ends of thelreys.

The upper front panel lill il'ie's. l, Ll and il) oi the piano case ishinged at its upper edge between the ends of the case, so that it can beswung .tor-- wardly and upwardly to enable the iall-board lto bereceived and concealed behind it, when the keyboard is exposed iorplaying. The iall board as best shown in Figs. il and. 5 consists ot averti cal panel 4ta and horizontal panel llllb hinged together at Alle.The horizontal panel lll-lib at its back edge dbd is pivotally supportedbetween the cheek-picces- The hinge llllc between the panels permitsthem to be collapsed against each other. They can then be swung upwardlyand rearwardly about the pivot 4nd into the position shown in Fig'. 5wherein they rest against a projection or stop 42. To permit theforegoing, the iront pane1 38 is temporarily swunga outwardly and up-uwardly as shown in Fie'. 5. When returned to its normal position, thispanel 3H eiiectiyely conceals the fall-board. The iront panel illi is ormay be provided with a foot-portion 33a to form a musicrack or desk.

The piano-back, soundboard and piano-case are not only much narrower inlateral expanse below the key-bed than in the standard upright, but alsothe piano-case is Ithere much shallower in fore and aft direction thanin the standard upright. This is best seen in the end elevation Fig. 4Where the fore and aft dimension or depth of the lower part of the caseis seen to be conn siderably less than the upper part of the case at thetop.

The pedals are operatively supported on a lyre 44 as in a grand pianowhich is secured to the key-bed in front of the lower front panel 46(Fig. l).

The effect of the entire construction as compared with the standardupright is to improve both the tone and the appearance.

There is a marked improvement in tone in the instrument as compared withthe standard upright having the same sized string-plate. The tone isdecidedly fuller and more sustained. This is accounted lor by thenarrower sound-board and piano-haelt construction below thelrey-bedills-o the narrower and shallower lower piano-caso probablycontributes to the improved tone by producing a smaller chamber which ismore reinforcing to the tone. .also the fact that the bottom of thepiano case and the contained construction are preferably supported freeoi the door is believed to improve the tone.

'.l'he whole appearance is lightened and changed :troni the wardrobeappearance of an upriehtm piano to the appearance of a spinet. This iscomplished by the marlred narrowingl or the caso and other parts belowthe lreybed with resulting' accentuation or the horizontally projectingends oi the key-bed and positioning oi the piano legsn two at each end,spaced well away from thc ends lilla oi the narowed piano case.

lllhat li claim is:

l. ln combination, a pianoebaclt, sound-boart'i| stringplate, bey-bed,lieg/board piano-actlou and piano-case combined as in a standard upnright piano but wherein the piano-haelt, soundboard and piano-case arenarrowed below the lrey-n bed to substantially the extent permitted bythe string-plate, the piano-bacia; having horizontal shouldersconnecting the narrowed lower portion thereof with its wider upperportion; end-beams whereon said shoulders rest and are secured; and

piano-lees secured under the iront and rear ends oi each bearn.

2. The combination claimed in claim l further characterized by the endsof the narrowed'lower part of the piano-case, piano-back and sound boardbeing inwardly concaved,

3. The combination claimed in claim l, iurm ther characterized by thesaid lower pianocase being' shallow from iront to rear and only deepenough substantially to take in the piano-baclr, soundboard andstring-plate.

4. The combination claimed in clairn l, further characterized by saidlegs being long enough to support the piano case and contained parts ofithe licor.

5. The combination claimed in claim l, iurther characterized by havingcheeks at the ends of the key-board united with end portions of thepiano-case above said cheeks, the ends of the key-bed being supported onthe aforesaid end beams and being united with said cheeks.

6. The combination claimed in claim l, further characterized by havingcheeks at the ends of the key-board united with end portions of thepiano-case above said cheeks, the ends of the key-bed being supported onthe aforesaid endbeams and being entered into recesses formed in saidcheeks and being united with said cheeks.

' HENRY R. HELLER.

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